Socializing Your Hokkaido Ken Puppy
We cannot stress enough the importance of postive socialization for your Hokkaido puppy! The attached checklist includes everything your dog may encounter as both a puppy and as an adult dog. By keeping track of your puppy’s socialization and training, you’ll be able to spot and fill socialization holes BEFORE they become an issue. The most important rule of socializing a puppy is to NEVER, for any reason, force a puppy (or an adult dog for that matter) to approach, interact with, touch, or be near something that appears to frighten them. Forcing a puppy to engage when afraid ensures they will never form positive associations with the object, person, place, surface, equipment, or situation.
Instead of forcing your puppy, always keep high-value treats with you and use them to encourage a suspicious puppy to explore a situation of their own accord. If you lay a solid foundation of socialization that rewards a puppy in new situations, you’ll create a confident learner who thoroughly enjoys circumstances they've never encountered. Your puppy needs to encounter a situation more than once before you can ensure they will always be comfortable with it. You should try for at least 5 instances of positive exposure per stimuli. This should be spanned out over several days to several weeks until the puppy will reliably and confidentely approach the stimuli when asked to do so.
Always remember the ultimate goal of socialization... to create a well-rounded, unshakeable, stable, and confident adult dog in all situations!
Instead of forcing your puppy, always keep high-value treats with you and use them to encourage a suspicious puppy to explore a situation of their own accord. If you lay a solid foundation of socialization that rewards a puppy in new situations, you’ll create a confident learner who thoroughly enjoys circumstances they've never encountered. Your puppy needs to encounter a situation more than once before you can ensure they will always be comfortable with it. You should try for at least 5 instances of positive exposure per stimuli. This should be spanned out over several days to several weeks until the puppy will reliably and confidentely approach the stimuli when asked to do so.
Always remember the ultimate goal of socialization... to create a well-rounded, unshakeable, stable, and confident adult dog in all situations!
|
Surfaces
Animals
Equipment
Smells
Things
|
People
Events
Places
Sounds
Modified from "Socializing Service Dogs in Training: 100+ Things to Include" |
Stress Signals & Socialization Roadbumps
Unfortunately many new and experienced dog owners fail to notice subtle, yet key, signs of stress for their dog or puppy. Without knowing how to read subtle changes in body language, you can easily cause your Hokkaido to go from mildly nervous or uncomfortable, to a full on panic or rage in a matter of seconds. This is what happens when people say their dog “just had a meltdown,” or even snapped at someone, for “no reason.” Ignoring stress signals is incredibly dangerous for everyone involved. This section is to help new, current, and perspective Hokkaido owners avoid this situation.
When out training or socializing with your Hokkaido, it is important to get into the habit of carefully watching your dog’s body language. We've found with our dogs that it really helps to write down in a training log exactly how your individual dog reacts to different stimuli. This way, you will be able to clearly see where your dog is solid, where your dog is not, where you are improving, and where you need more work.
Below are signs of minor stress signals for dogs:
When we say minor, this doesn’t mean you should continue what you are doing in hopes he will just “get over it.” After all, your dog is scared, and in need of your understanding response. What we DO mean is these are the signals which are almost always overlooked… when key stress signals are overlooked by the handler, it can lead to much greater problems.
Below are signs of major stress signals for dogs:
If your Hokkaido is experiencing any of these, it is not only time to remove him from the situation ASAP, but to also rethink your training or socialization plan. Many of these signals will occur just shortly before a complete panic and/or bite.
Your Hokkaido is fully dependent on you to manage every situation he is put into. As your dog’s handler, you are 100% responsible for his mental and physical well-being at all times. No matter what situation you find yourself in, your dog’s individual needs should always come first.
Pushing a nervous dog into a situation where he is uncomfortable is one of the absolute worst things you can do for your Hokkaido puppy, and creates the potential for much greater behavioral issues further down the road. Thinking your dog can “just get over it” is called "flooding;" and it is an extremely outdated training tactic. Just because your dog appears to stop fighting does NOT mean he is comfortable in that situation… it simply means he has "shut down." He’s still anxious and afraid, but he’s decided there’s no point in fighting anymore. This is one of the most dangerous situations your dog may find himself in. He appears “calm,” but a second later has the potential to lash out and bite.
When out training and socializing with your Hokkaido, always remember the ultimate goal of socialization: to create a well-rounded, unshakeable, stable, solid, confident adult dog in all situations. Subjecting your Hokkaido puppy to situations which cause him fear or panic is just NOT the way to do that. Instead, work at your dog's own pace. And if you have any questions or concerns along the way, please do contact us. We stand by our dogs and puppies all the way.
When out training or socializing with your Hokkaido, it is important to get into the habit of carefully watching your dog’s body language. We've found with our dogs that it really helps to write down in a training log exactly how your individual dog reacts to different stimuli. This way, you will be able to clearly see where your dog is solid, where your dog is not, where you are improving, and where you need more work.
Below are signs of minor stress signals for dogs:
When we say minor, this doesn’t mean you should continue what you are doing in hopes he will just “get over it.” After all, your dog is scared, and in need of your understanding response. What we DO mean is these are the signals which are almost always overlooked… when key stress signals are overlooked by the handler, it can lead to much greater problems.
- Lip licking when no food is present
- Yawning when he didn’t just wake up
- Rapid sniffing of the air or ground
- Stiff movement or tense muscles
- Slowed movement or a laggy heel
- Lowered tail
- Hyper vigilance (rapidly moving eyes trying to scan the environment)
- Hardened facial features
- Dog stops taking treats/food
- Dog starts taking treats in a more hard/bitey manor
- Hard eyes (fast/sharp blinking)
- Weight shift changes
- Panting when it’s not hot out
- Slightly roached (curved) back
- Ears back
- Not responding to handler’s commands
- Looking away from handler
- Whiney and uneasy
- Nibbling on treats but not actually eating them
- Leaning on the handler
- Scratching themselves
Below are signs of major stress signals for dogs:
If your Hokkaido is experiencing any of these, it is not only time to remove him from the situation ASAP, but to also rethink your training or socialization plan. Many of these signals will occur just shortly before a complete panic and/or bite.
- Tightly tucked tail
- Whale eye (dog’s eyes go wide and you can see the white rim around them)
- Pulling towards an exit
- Pulling away from the handler
- Spinning on the leash
- Not responding to the handler’s commands
- Not responding to the handler’s voice
- Shaking
- Urinating
- Low/tucked body position with a roached (curved) back
- Sweaty paws
- Whining
- Heavy breathing when it’s not hot out
- Teeth chattering
- Tense lips and incisors (front teeth) showing while licking at the air
- Laying down on the ground with their chin down and not wanting to move
Your Hokkaido is fully dependent on you to manage every situation he is put into. As your dog’s handler, you are 100% responsible for his mental and physical well-being at all times. No matter what situation you find yourself in, your dog’s individual needs should always come first.
Pushing a nervous dog into a situation where he is uncomfortable is one of the absolute worst things you can do for your Hokkaido puppy, and creates the potential for much greater behavioral issues further down the road. Thinking your dog can “just get over it” is called "flooding;" and it is an extremely outdated training tactic. Just because your dog appears to stop fighting does NOT mean he is comfortable in that situation… it simply means he has "shut down." He’s still anxious and afraid, but he’s decided there’s no point in fighting anymore. This is one of the most dangerous situations your dog may find himself in. He appears “calm,” but a second later has the potential to lash out and bite.
When out training and socializing with your Hokkaido, always remember the ultimate goal of socialization: to create a well-rounded, unshakeable, stable, solid, confident adult dog in all situations. Subjecting your Hokkaido puppy to situations which cause him fear or panic is just NOT the way to do that. Instead, work at your dog's own pace. And if you have any questions or concerns along the way, please do contact us. We stand by our dogs and puppies all the way.
